ZIP 36005 vs ZIP 36048

This side-by-side compares ZIP 36005 (Banks, AL) and ZIP 36048 (Louisville, AL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 36005 has a population of 1,522 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 36048 has 1,459 at 5 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 36005 reports a median household income of $47,250 against $44,158 in ZIP 36048, with per-capita income of $26,027 vs $30,880. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.3% in 36005 and 7.6% in 36048. Poverty rate reads 12.4% vs 14.5%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 3.3% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $107,300 in 36005 versus $78,900 in 36048, with median rent of $1,109 and $666 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.6% vs 69.6%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.